sweet itsy part 1

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

our itty bitty betty enjoying the her vast lands of 29 Black Street + she's super sweet on her best dog Winnie Darn Dixon
Early on we nick named Betty* - Itty Bitty Betty** because when we first began feeding her at the kitchen window drive through last Spring she was extremely thin, concave almost, that is when she wasn't pregnant and/or in heat and dealing with sometimes 6 feral/or neglected village Tom cats at a time - yikes !

First up we had her spayed, picked her up at the vet and released her, at the time she was still nursing a litter of kittens (who were rescued by our local shelter - hooray). We continued to feed her and gradually began letting her come inside for visits to meet and to get to know the boys Oliver, Virgil & BleetNess throughout the summer & fall. By winter we had claimed her as our own and for the most part she seemed quite content to move in to her new home ... except for the teenage bros Oliver & Virgil who began tormenting & harassing her every chance they had - exactly like the teenage boys I remember from my youth - just trying to get a rise out of her and a rise they most certainly got - the Drama began. Sigh.

Sweet Nessie, our black velvet chicelet, (who's always been very much a lover & never a fighter, he's easily intimidated by the merest glance from O and/or V) befriended Itty Bitty but the harassment from the other two 'caused Betty's inner Drama Queen to emerge fast & furiously (female cats can have this tendency - with homage to my own dear Lulu the Queen of the Bossy) and Itsy began over grooming (psychogenic alopecia - oh great !!) she pretty much licked removed the hair from her entire hind end - causing me (& the Prince) to take it very personally, after all didn't we rescue her from a life of constant sexual harassment & litter after litter of kittens ?!? We began calling her our lil' hairless holstein ;-) Thankfully, with her own private bed-sit (our laundry room) complete with separate entrance, breakfast nook & litter tray (can you say Princess ?) she has recovered from this affliction & once again has a full, luxurious coat & is becoming a little bit of a chubette. Stay tuned for the part 2 of the story of sweet Betty coming soon.

6 comments:

Hi John, It's funny the more time has passed it's been mostly Virgil and his feral-ish, wild childness, doing the tormenting. We believe he is convinced that she is and always has been an interloper and it is his job and his alone to convince her to move on & out of here. We do love him - Virg, he's very handsome, he's the sweetest sleeper (has the best poses) but he is one strange dude, said with love of course ;-) xoxo les Gang

Thank you for doing this blog. I am a L-L-O-N-G-time cat and flower lover and originally from upstate New York (Finger Lakes and Rochester areas) and have been so blessed by your postings of all the flowers and critters. Miss Winnie D is a sweetheart. Congratulations on the Starbucks gig. Found you through our precious Chickory.

I can safely say that if you love flowers and you love cats you've come to the right place. Add in dogs, the ocean, sea shells, lichen, a bit of creativity, a few insects and the odd post about dealing with anxiety (& the depression that arises from it) and you've pretty much summed up 29 Black Street. That Darn Missy D she is a sweetheart with an incredible zest for life in her 16th year ;-)

Happy to hear also that you found "us" through "our", precious indeed, Madam Chickory & gang.

So many wonderful photos of Itty Bitty Betty and the links to her other siblings and Miss Winnie of course.She is such a sweet little kitty, it was love at first sight for me, so pleased that you and Doug have given her such good care.I am pleased she has settled in and ceased the over-grooming.Love to all at 29 Black Street, such a happy place to visit.xoxoxo ♡